POLARIS PROJECT • One of the largest anti-trafficking organizations in the United States • Offices in Washington, DC; Newark, NJ; and Tokyo, Japan • Member of the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, a coalition of 11 anti-trafficking organizations

POLARIS PROJECT Comprehensive approach to combating human trafficking includes: – Providing social services and transitional housing to victims, – Operating the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) -- the central national hotline on human trafficking, – Advocating for stronger state and federal anti-trafficking legislation, – Training and technical assistance, and – Engaging community members in local and national grassroots efforts.

STATISTICS FROM THE FIELD • Human Trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world. Traffickers reap $32 -36 billion in profits by using force, fraud or coercion to rob victims of their freedom through labor or commercial sex. • At the one end of the continuum of exploitation, the United Nations estimates that 12 million people are exploited worldwide forced labor and sexual exploitation. • On the other end of the continuum, the U. S. government estimates 2 to 4 million people are trafficked annually. • Experts at Northeastern University estimated that there a minimum of approximately 5, 100 to 60, 500 people trafficked into and within the U. S. each year. • An estimated 293, 000 children are at-risk for exploitation through prostitution within the U. S. each year -- a brutal form of human trafficking.

NHTRC Vignette • A teacher became concerned after one of her 14 -year-old students failed to show up to classes for several weeks. • The teacher spoke with several of the student's high school friends who indicated that the student had an older boyfriend who sometimes picked her up from school and directed the teacher to multiple postings advertising the student for commercial sex on Backpage. com, Craigslist. org, and a local dating website. • The teacher reported the information to the NHTRC hotline after speaking with the student’s father, who indicated that the student had recently run away and was believed to be staying with her boyfriend. The NHTRC connected the father and the teacher with a specialized task force who began investigation into the case.

Who are the Traffickers? Traffickers can be: • Anyone • Strangers, Friends, Partners, Family Neighbors • US Citizens and Foreign Nationals • Males and Females • Adults and Minors • Any race • Members of victim’s own ethnic or background • Of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds Members or national

FEDERAL AND STATE LAW • Federal: Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) (Reauthorized in 2003, 2005, & 2008) • State: currently, 48 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia have laws against human trafficking • International: Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime)

Criminalizing Human Trafficking Under Federal Law § 1590. The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. § 1591. Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of; age or

Other Federal Criminal Laws § 1592. Unlawful Conduct with Respect to Documents. Whoever knowingly destroys, conceals, removes, confiscates, or possesses any actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document, of another person in the course of or with the intent to commit labor or sex trafficking

Human Trafficking Under RICO • The TVPRA of 2003 and 2005 added human trafficking offenses to the list of RICO predicate crimes. 18 U. S. C. Section 1961 (1)(b). • The most common crime charged under RICO is the fourth provision, which makes it illegal to conspire to violate any of the three substantive crimes established in the statute. 18 U. S. C. Section 1962 (d).

Human Trafficking Under RICO • In United States v. Pipkins, the Eleventh Circuit found that an enterprise existed between a groups of Atlanta pimps despite the fact they competed with each other. The court considered evidence that the pimps traveled together out of state to recruit girls; the pimps provided shelter, supplies, and drugs to each other’s girls; and that pimps agreed to price limitations for sexual services. 378 F. 3 d 1281 (11 th Cir. 2004)

FEDERAL AND STATE LEGAL FRAMEWORK • Federal and state laws should complement each other and form a tightly woven net of protection for the victims and prosecution of the traffickers. • Federal and state law enforcement and prosecutors should communicate and coordinate to ensure that neither trafficking victims nor traffickers slip through this net.

STATE RATINGS CHART: LAWS NEEDED To download a copy of the 2011 state ratings map, chart, and a methodology document, please visit our Polaris Project website. To download an individual state report please click here.

THE EVOLUTION OF STATE HUMAN TRAFFICKING POLICY • In 2004, only 4 states had any type of anti-trafficking law. • In 2010, only a third of the states (17) were rated in the top two categories. • In 2011, anti-trafficking criminal statutes exist in most states and the District of Columbia: – 45 with sex trafficking offenses – 48 with labor trafficking offenses • Slightly more than half of the states (28) are rated in the top two categories of green and yellow. • 23 states still remain in the bottom two categories of orange and red.

THE EVOLUTION OF STATE HUMAN TRAFFICKING POLICY • 22 states have asset forfeiture • • 28 states have investigative tools for law enforcement 15 states have training for law enforcement 11 states have a human trafficking task force 8 states require posting of the NHTRC hotline 7 states have Safe Harbor for minors 20 states have victim assistance 14 states give victims access to civil remedies 4 states allow sex trafficked victims to have convictions for prostitution vacated

STATE POLICY TRENDS: 2011 • Human Trafficking (VT, HI, PA, MA, VA, TX) Increasing or creating penalties for sex or labor trafficking. • Protecting Sex Trafficked Minors/”Safe Harbor” (AL, AZ, FL, MN, MO, NJ, OR, TN, TX, VT) Amending the law to ensure that minors in commercial sex are not prosecuted for prostitution, and are provided with specialized services for victims of sex trafficking. • Investigations – One Party Wire Tapping (MD, WA) Provide law enforcement with an exemption to any prohibition on one-party wire tapping during investigations of human trafficking. • Asset Forfeiture (HI , MD, TN, VT, CA, GA) Provides courts with the authority to seize assets of convicted human traffickers, which were either gained due to human trafficking crimes or used to conduct human trafficking.

STATE POLICY TRENDS: 2011 • Vacating Convictions (CA, IL, MD, NV, PA) Legislation to provide a mechanism for victims of human trafficking to have arrests or convictions for prostitution related crimes which occurred during the time of the trafficking, completely removed from their record. • Training Law Enforcement (GA, MO, VA) To require or encourage training of law enforcement in the investigation of human trafficking offenses. • Hotline Posting (AL, MD, NV, NY, PA, VT, TN) To require or encourage the posting of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline (888 -3737 -888) or a state run hotline in certain targeted locations to ensure that victims are identified and served. • Demand (AZ, HI, NV, OR, NY, VT, CA, CO, GA, TN, NY) Increasing penalties for purchasing sex from minors or adults to address the underlying demand for the sale of human beings for sex.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE THE STATE APPROACH TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING? 1. Create a comprehensive federal and state human trafficking legal framework; 2. Create a coordinated, comprehensive community response; – 24 hour hotline that has designated POC's for all needs, including shelters, services, etc. ; – Strong referral protocols; – Media campaign, awareness raising; – Community and direct outreach;

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE THE STATE APPROACH TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING? 3. Collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries to: – Identify, assist and protect human trafficking victims; – Investigate human traffickers and the related networks; – Initiate prosecutions from U. S. Attorney’s Offices, State Attorney Generals and County and Local Attorney’s Offices; – Hold human traffickers accountable and suppress their markets.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE THE STATE APPROACH TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING? 4. IMPLEMENTATION: – Its important that law enforcement and prosecutors be trained on how to use human trafficking laws – Protocols must be in place within the Department of Human Services on how to identify victims and help them get access to services – Public awareness campaigns must be initiated to inform the public and conduct outreach to at-risk populations.

LAWS STILL NEEDED: 2012 • 43 states need to pass laws to protect minors sold for the purposes of commercial sex often known as "safe harbor" laws. • 40 states need to pass laws to create or extend state human trafficking task forces. • 36 states need to pass a civil remedy to enable human trafficking victims with the ability to seek civil damages from their traffickers. • 32 states need to pass a law requiring the posting of a human trafficking hotline, such as the National Human Trafficking Resource Center or a state human trafficking hotline, with the ability to provide crisis intervention, resources and referral.